Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1887-09-03
SACo, Sept. 2.

Lnf NUDDtT.
SAco, Sept. 2.
Bank Examiner Richards is investigating
the affairs of the Saco and Biddeiord Savings
Institution today and is satisfied that the
statement of the loss first given by Presi-
dent Goodae will more than cover the
amount taken.
The entire forenoon was spent looking over
the bonds of the bank. 1t turns out from this
Investigation that tie amount of negotiable
bonds stolen by McNeely was Sll, 900 less
than previously reported. The first report
placed the negotiable bonds taken at $9l 900
but today $1,000 in st. Louis municipal
bonds, supposed to have been stolen, were
found among other bonds in the safe. This
lowers the total amount of the defalcation to
$268, 800.
The sensation is still The talk of the town.
Nothing new has developed today to give any
idea as to the present resting place of the
young thief Aside from his brother Har-
rvs despatch last night from Montreal, stat
family have received nothing that in any way
gives a clue. Various opinions are enter
tanned. Some think he Is landed safely
among the little army of American boodlers
in Montreal, others express the opinion that
Manitoba is his destination, while few have
been found who are inclined to the belief
that he escaped to New York and reached
that city in time to board an ocean steamer
and is now en- route for Europe. Whichever
theory is correct of course cannot be stated,
but the majority OF those who have given the
matter serious thought lean towards the one
that suggests Montreal
Detective True has left nothing undone
that might seem to offer hope of finding the
criminal. If Frank is on the American con-
tinent he will be hunted down. Mr.. True is
of the opinion that Frank WAS the only one
concerned in the matter and is inclined to
discredit the story that he has been selling
the bonds, but thinks that it is very possible
that his stealing of the funds of the bank
dates back a month at least. If he premed-
ltated the stealing of the money and bonds it
is possible that he was arranging lines of es-
cape
Could McNeely realize anything from the
registered bonds? Some claim that he could
by forging the name of Treasurer Kelly, pro-
viding they bore the seal of the bank, which
could readily have been affixed to them if the
clerk had been carrying them in his pocket
whole month. But men who ought to know
state positively that the registered bonds can
be of no earthly use to the criminal.
1t seems to be the general feeling both in
Saco and Biddeford that if the young man is
found IN Canada his extradition is probable,
1t is claimed that his crime is larceny or
robbery. He had no authority to handle the
| securities of the bank as its authorized agent,
and his stealing the bonds and cash cannot
be classed as embezzlement.
| If, as the bank officers are now led TO be-
lieve. young McNeely stole the bonds from
the strong box on the first day of August,
ouestion arises as to what disposition he had
made of his plunder The municipal, rail-
road and other bonds in his possession were
worth the money they represented. But no
one can be found who has bought any bonds
of The description OF TO whom any such have
been offered
Hon. Edward P. Burnham, who for years
WAS treasurer of the institution, was in Saco
last night. He was. thoroughly worked up
over the affair He had striven hard to build
the institution up to its high standing in the
country, and it was the keenest grief to him
70 have its strong vault so mercilessly plum
dered He testified to the fact that the bank
will not be crippled by the defalcstion.
A dispatch this afternoon from Buffalo
saws that a TALL well dressed young woman
With face veiled, arrived in Buffalo on a
,rain from the East Tuesday night, and left
ON the Michigan Central for Canada. While
at the depot she attracted a good deal OF at
tention BY smoking pipe. The person is
believed to have been a man in disguise and
:, ia now thought by some to have been the
missing robber.
No new developments in the bank robbery
case have occurred since morning. Harry
McNeely, brother of the missing clerk ar
rived home from Montreal on the afternoon
train and has been in consultation with the
hank officers and Detective True, DE mas
made thorough search of Montreal out
found no trace of the thief. He is OF the
| oninion that the absconding clerk did not go
to Montreal, but is in New England and VIII
be captured within few days.
Today's payments at the bank have been
very light, much less than an average days
business. Two private drawers in the ofhce
desk belonging to McNeely have been broken
toto In hone of finding some clue that would